


head on my shoulder

by guardianoffun



Category: Endeavour (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-12-07 21:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20982851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardianoffun/pseuds/guardianoffun
Summary: Morse ft. his three friends falling asleep on him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> an otp promp generator spat out a load of weird stuff BUT SOMETHING INSPIRED ME and also this song just... made me want this. it's less abt the writing more the overall Vibe I wanted ? idk i hope yall enjoy. i planned it as morse/max but tbh it's barely there, u could just as easy argue it's jakes/morse or morse/strange... written entirely in the early hours of the morning and not at all proofread lol

In all reality, Morse’s flat did not have enough space to sleep four fully grown men, but that apparently wasn’t going to stop them. Jakes was already sprawled out on the sofa, one leg flung over the arm, head on Morse’s shoulder, snoring something rotten. He’d fallen asleep somewhere after the fifth beer he’d pinched off Strange, lulled to sleep by a day of heavy lifting, curry and the heating being jacked up to high heaven by DeBryn. The long Saturday evening had started as an impromptu redecorating session, when DeBryn had finally had enough of Morse’s lacklustre approach to interior decorating. Deciding both Morse and his home could do with a spot of TLC he had roped in Strange and Jakes as extra hands, and by early evening, much to Morse’s confusion, he was now the proud owner of some actual furniture, and walls in a slightly more pleasing shade than off-milk. 

DeBryn had stared at Morse till he mumbled his thanks, and then took pity on him, and offered the two of them dinner instead. Somehow dinner became drinks in front of the TV, all four of them crammed onto Morse’s new two-seater couch. Morse was no stranger to spending time pressed up against DeBryn, and he had spent many nights slumped beside Strange before, but Jakes was new. He was so long, he didn’t really sit on the sofa so much as drape across it, and everything on it - Morse included. 

So there was Jakes pressed up against him one side, and DeBryn tucked in on the other. Morse had apparently become some sort of pillow it seemed. At least DeBryn didn’t snore, though he had pulled most of the blanket from Morse’s lap, so Morse was holding that against him. 

Strange was still around somewhere, if the snoring from the floor was any indicator. That, and a few pillows were missing off the sofa - had Strange been too tired to even make his way to an actual bed? Peering over his legs, he found that Strange was propped up against the sofa by his feet. A pillow saved his neck from being bent at a wholly unnatural angle, but Morse was sure it couldn’t be comfortable. Still, he was out for the count, shoes kicked off and a blanket around his neck. He had seen Strange manage to sleep on the ratty sofa they used to share at their flat, and supposed if his back could survive that, it could survive the floor too. 

The radio that Strange had brought with him was still crackling away quietly, some mellow medley of songs, softened by the rain that drummed against the window. It made for a cosy atmosphere, something Morse’s flat hadn’t seen much of in recent years. It was nice though, warm and comfortable enough that Morse found himself drifting off, eyes struggling to stay open much longer. 

The only problem he realised, was that his right arm was gradually going numb where it supported most of Jakes’ weight. Doing his best to ease it out from under him, without disturbing either man currently asleep on him. He almost succeeded, when he let Jakes’ head slip completely, and the poor sod nearly slid off the sofa entirely. 

Shaking himself awake, Jakes stared at him groggily. 

“Morse?” he yawned, one hand massaging his neck. “What’s the time?” he asked. Morse glanced down at his hand that was missing a watch, and shrugged. 

“Round one, I think?” Jakes nodded, eyes already drooping. He yawned again. Morse, who had been shaking out his numb arm, didn’t move. 

“S’late,” Jakes said, and then yawned for a third time. “And it’s raining.” He looked at the other men, both still sound asleep. 

“You mind if I… “ he said, already rearranging himself on the sofa. “I’m just gonna stay here… Not walking home in this,” he mumbled, snatching a pillow from the floor. He dropped it between himself and Morse’s shoulder, and slammed himself into it with such force Morse didn’t argue. His own body was already fighting him for sleep, and now he could feel his fingers again, he was able to sink a little deeper into the seat. He pinched some of the thick blanket back from DeBryn as Jakes wriggled as he got comfy, and then somehow fell asleep again within seconds. It only took ten minutes, just as Morse’s head dropped onto DeBryn’s, for Jakes to stretch, and for his head to fall into Morse’s lap. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kmrjo mentioned seeing the next morning, so this happened lol, i hope yall enjoy

It was Strange who woke first, as a shift in the air sent a shiver down his spine and pulled him from sleep. He blinked a few times, then went to move up. He only made it an inch or so before something in his back twinged and sent him back to the floor with a  _ thud _ . He let himself sink into the blankets, thinking he might just catch a few more winks when he rolled and collided with something solid. 

Morse’s sock-clad foot was jammed against his hip, and rolling into it woke both of them properly. Strange groans as he stretches, back popping somewhat alarmingly. Morse made a noise that was probably a yawn, though it sounded more like a disgruntled cat than anything else. The sound of Jakes still snoring cut through it all. Strange shifted, so the he could look up at Morse, whose eyes were slowly cracking open. The pair shared a look, both of them staring at Jakes’, who was slack jawed and drooling against Morse’s thigh. Strange couldn’t help laughing, Morse looking horrified as he reached out to press Jakes’ mouth shut.

“S’not funny,” Morse hissed as Strange pulled himself upright and rubbed at his lower back. “Big head like his, weighs a tonne,” Morse groused. 

“It’s kinda funny,” Strange shot back, watching as Jakes’ mouth fell open again. Morse growled very quietly, again reminding Strange of a pissed-off cat. His hair was even flattened on one side, where he had been pressed against DeBryn, giving him the look of a lazy ginger tom. All his grouching had roused DeBryn, who was yawning himself awake, shaking his head as he patted himself down for his glasses. Morse, whilst maintaining his sour not-a-morning-person grimace, pulled them out of his breast pocket. The doctor took them, mumbling a small thanks as he slid them into place. 

“Good morning sergeant,” he said with a nod to Strange, the wry smile on his face an admission of how strange the situation was. Strange, deciding that he had had enough of the floor, said his good mornings back and peeled himself off the ground and ambled his way towards the kitchen. 

Despite this being Morse’s own house, he had helped put together most of the furniture that now adorned it, and had endured almost a year with the man as a roommate. Perhaps that made him overly comfortable, the boundaries around making breakfast from someone else’s fridge blurred, but he knew Morse wouldn’t complain if he laid a full English in front it him. Besides, cracking a window open and the kettle on would do wonders to clear the lingering hangover from Strange’s head. 

Back in the living room, DeBryn was watching as Morse wrestled with the heavy lump of a man still out cold in his lap. 

“It’s rather magnificent in a way. Like some sort of beast,” he said, after Jakes let out a particularly low and rumbling snore. Morse snorted.

“Do you think he’d notice if I just…” he held his hand over Jakes fingers, forefinger and thumb poised as if to pinch his nose and smother him. “It’d be, quiet he’d never even know,” DeBryn’s turn to laugh, though it turned into a despairing sigh.

“It’d take too long, he’d wake up. Besides, you’d leave a mark, that’s too easy for me. Challenge me a bit Morse.” Their murderous planning was interrupted when Strange appeared in the doorway, two mismatched cups in hand. 

“We killing Jakes?” He pressed the teas into grateful hands and crossed his arms over his chest, studying Jakes’ sleeping form. “I’d go poison, personally. Slip a little something in one of his fags, he’d do the job for you I reckon.” With that, he turned tail and headed back to the sound of frying bacon. DeBryn nodded. 

“That’s not a bad idea actually,” he said. Morse peered after Strange. “Should we be concerned he has apparently thought this out before?”

“And you haven’t?” Before Morse could answer, Jakes jerked suddenly, awakened perhaps by their voices. Bleary eyes peered up at them. 

“Haven’t what?” Jakes slurred as he wiped his chin with the back of his hand. 

“Nothing.” Morse bounced his knee, and when it did nothing, bounced it again. Jakes took the hint, finally, and awkwardly pulled himself upright. He shook his head, hand moving to massage a crick in his neck. 

“Whatever- is that that breakfast?” He was very quickly awake, propelling himself towards Strange’s spread. Morse, finally free, stood and stretched his legs out, rubbing at the unfortunately placed stain above his knee. 

“He made me buy a fifteen quid pair of trousers and then  _ dribbled  _ on them.” DeBryn reached over and wiped at the mess with his sleeve. 

“It’ll wash, do stop moaning. I think they suit you,” he said, settling back into his corner and reaching for his tea. One of Morse’s eyebrows crept up, intrigued. He turned on his heel, watching the doctor’s face as he gave him a three hundred and sixty degree view of said new trousers. Slightly more tailored than Morse’s usual off-the rack purchases, and in a cut that aimed to do more than just cover ones legs, they did look pretty good on him, even after sleeping in them. 

“You like them?”

“Very much,” DeBryn all but purred. “They do wonders for your arse.” The sound of choking interrupted them again, as Jakes’ struggled to swallow a mouthful of bacon he’d almost inhaled, wheezing as he slapped his own chest.

“Jesus, doc, it’s not even ten o’clock, can we maybe  _ not  _ talk about Morse’s arse first thing? Nice as it might be, some of us are eating,” He flashed Morse a teasing smile, and from the kitchen Strange could be heard chortling to himself. Even DeBryn joined in, shaking his head as he laughed into his drink. Morse thought, for a moment, he should be offended, being the butt of the collective joke after all, but the whole situation instead had him feeling rather warm for a minute, somewhere in his chest. He hadn’t noticed till now, but the three men he found himself sharing his morning with had, in one way or another, wormed their way into his life and and carved what turned out to be quite permanent place there. 

That was quite the realisation to have at quarter to ten in the morning, hungover and hungry, so he decided to unpack it all later. He slapped on a scowl, told Jakes ‘ _ you would know, considering you almost had your head up it last night’  _ and then stalked off to nab a plate off Strange. He couldn’t have them thinking he’d gone soft on them now, could he? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also jasmiintee said abt the QE comparison so id like to say Strange is the Anthony of the group, Jakes is Tan, DeBryn is Bobby, Shirley is the Karamo and they are all collectively Jonathan when they shave the Morsetache off him lol

**Author's Note:**

> hope u liked!!!


End file.
